Saturday, February 16

FREE TO AIR

David Attenborough's Africa: Kalahari, Channel Ten, 6.30pm

THE latest instalment of David Attenborough's nature series is brilliant, beautiful, heartbreaking and life-affirming. The photography is reliably stunning - peering into birds' nests, tracking leopards, and following the appropriately named cartwheel spider as it tumbles down a desert dune. The first episode, which screens tonight, focuses on the Kalahari and the animals that dwell above and under this vast expanse of desert in southern Africa. And it doesn't matter how many nature docos you might have seen, this never gets old, especially watching never-before-seen footage of black rhinos congregating at a waterhole. Generally regarded as cranky buggers during the day, the rhinos like to hang out together at night and are affectionate with each other. As usual, Attenborough's narration is top-notch; he could commentate the goings-on at the local dog park and it would be enthralling. Long may the old master reign.

THIS Israeli drama is where Homeland got its start. In this version, three Israeli soldiers who went missing in Lebanon are freed 17 years later. But one returns in a coffin, while the other two are under suspicion because of discrepancies in their stories.

David Attenborough's Africa has unique footage of black rhinos in the Kalahari.

If, like me, you switch on episode five not having watched any of the previous Prisoners of War episodes but having watched Homeland, it won't be too hard to figure out what's going on. Tonight the remains of Amiel Ben-Horin are buried. His death is shown through flashbacks to the prison where he and the other soldiers, Nimrod Klein (Yoram Toledano) and Uri Zach (Ishai Golan), were held. There are hints of a possible plot between the two survivors, but nothing concrete. Prisoners of War is different enough from Homeland to be enjoyed on its own merits, but it lacks the tension and ''Whaaaaat?'' factor that made the American version a must-see drama.

The Paradise, ABC1, 7.30pm

Advertisement

ACCORDING to the publicity blurb, ''a shocking discovery in ladieswear causes ripples through the store''. What on earth can it be - Downton Abbey's missing cousin Patrick? Richard III's remains? Alas, it's neither. Rather, it's a baby - a foundling - discovered in a wicker basket in the ladies' change room. But it's not just a baby; it's a publicity opportunity for the store's ambitious owner, John Moray (Emun Elliott). Sound interesting? No, didn't think so. The Paradise is sumptuous to look at - it's set in the Victorian splendour of Britain's first department store - but it's stuffed with the stereotypes and cliches found in your typical bonnet-and-bustle drama: a handsome lead man who's torn in love and haunted by his past; a wide-eyed heroine who has virtue and brains; some scheming women plotting to bring down said heroine; and an orphan - gah! There would be more value and drama in playing the security footage from David Jones than watching this.

Entertainment Newsletter

PAY TV

Baggage Battles, A&E, 9pm

STORAGE-auction shows, like pawn-shop shows, are the new cake shows. And it's easy to see why. It's interesting waiting to see what kind of trash and treasure emerges when someone gambles a wad of cash on the contents of an abandoned locker. That's assuming, of course, that what you're watching is real and not scripted pseudo-reality dross such as Storage Hunters. Anyway, Baggage Battles follows thrift-shop owner Mark, antiques-shop owner Billy and husband-and-wife team Laurence and Sally as they travel to airports around the US to bid on lost luggage. Tonight, however, they're at a police auction in Los Angeles, and the junk going under the hammer looks distinctly unpromising. Billy becomes interested in a samurai-style sword signed by David Carradine, while Mark gambles on there being some real gold in a bag of jewellery.

Selling Houses Australia, LifeStyle, 1pm

A TYPICALLY fine episode as Andrew Winter and friends ride to the rescue of another desperate vendor. Today it's Rhonda, who owns a lovely little cottage on a big block just five minutes' walk from Wollongong's central business district. It's the kind of place that would sell itself, you'd think. Unfortunately, there's an ugly new block of flats right up against the fence line, peering right into Rhonda's house and garden. It looks as though her only option is to spend several thousand dollars on tall bamboo trees to screen them out. As always, Winter, Charlie Albone and Shaynna Blaze have plenty of advice and ideas of practical value to the home viewer.

Styled to Rock, Style, 9.30pm

Project Runway-style show in which pop star Rihanna gets fashion designers to make outfits for musicians.

Murdoch Mysteries, 13th Street, 7.30pm

Agreeably genteel police procedural set in 19th-century Canada.

Tough Nuts: Australia's Hardest Criminals, CI, 6.30pm

Episode looking at notorious hitman Christopher Dale Flannery.

BRAD NEWSOME

MOVIES

An Education (2009), SBS One, 9.30pm

THIS is an admirable but oddly irritating film about a 16-year-old schoolgirl, Jenny Mellor (Carey Mulligan), who has an affair with a much older and unpleasant man (Peter Sarsgaard). Set in early 1960s England, the film does a fine job with the period, which is perhaps not unexpected in that director Lone Scherfig is Danish rather than British. Foreign directors often capture a location and an environment better than locals do. If this universally admired film has an issue, it is Carey Mulligan. She is an overly intense actress who often appears to be miscast. And here she is not helped by being a good seven years too old for the part. Her performance is not only unconvincing, it falsely ascribes an adult sexuality to a still-maturing child. Still, An Education is an engaging, if despairing, look at a time when men had greater licence to be bad, and women were more forcefully imagining their future rights and freedoms.

Venus (2006), SBS One, 11.20pm

THIS beautiful and tender film, about an aged theatrical lion (Peter O'Toole) and his twentysomething grand-niece (Jodie Whittaker), is supremely well acted.